Focus on modern

This stone split-level house at 2464 Hilltop Road in Niskayuna was built by the Russian modernist Victor Civkin.

There is modern residential architecture in the Capital Region, you just have to look for it. Real estate agent Joseph Dalton has made the search a specialty.

Dalton launched a website recently, modernhome-ny.com, based on what he’s found so far. It’s a celebration of simple lines and asymmetry in a place dominated by Victorians and Colonials, as well as recognition for the mid-century ranch often passed over as nothing more than housing stock.

“I search for ‘mid-century’ in the MLS and then go to the neighborhood, there’s usually a handful. If there’s one there’s more. Once I tightened my awareness I’m finding plenty,” Dalton said.

Dalton is an agent with Prudential Manor Homes Realtors. He also writes freelance pieces for the Times Union about the arts.

On Marthon Drive in Troy, he found vaulted ceilings and exposed brick in a contemporary home with a wall of glass and a blue door. One look at 8 Compton Place in Glenville, and you expect to see a car with huge fins parked out front and Don Draper coming down the walk. 28 Featherbed Lane in Ballston Spa overwhelms with white, from the carpet to walls, ceiling and furniture.

There’s an interesting juxtaposition in this area, particularly in Albany, between public and private architecture. While the city skyline is dominated by a modern creation – the Empire State Plaza – other than the University at Albany (love it or hate it) most of the architecture is a variation of traditional styles.

Dalton is hardly alone in his affection for modern. The aesthetic can be seen in the proliferation of Ikea and the style of Heywood-Wakefield furniture. You may not know who Charles and Ray Eames were, but you’ve probably seen an Eames chair. Real estate agents in other parts of the country – particularly Palm Springs, Calif., Seattle and Washington DC – specialize in modern and contemporary architecture, but Dalton said he hasn’t seen the niche filled here.

“I’m curating an offering of houses,” Dalton said. “We have new industries coming here that will bring younger buyers looking for this kind of thing.”